pic: Floating Zip Tie Chain Tensioner

[Zflash]

Originally Posted by JesseK

Last night I took this into the preliminary CADs my team has for our '09 prototype bases, and we noticed an inherent flaw. Perhaps this is a flaw with all floating tensioners though.

If the two sprockets in the chain run are significantly different relative to their distance apart (e.g. 22-tooth to a 32-tooth, 6" apart) or their axes of rotation are not level with each other (e.g. transmission output shaft is higher than the wheel axle), this tensioner will have a tendendency to "drift" towards the smaller or lower sprocket and stay there without putting any tension on the chain. Is this correct or are we seeing something that isn't really true?

Installation of a snap idle : Enough tension need only be applied to take out the slack of the chain. When the drive is in operation the Snapidle® will move back and forth on the chain periodically.
This is a qoute from the snap idle page I referenced earlier. While we did not have such a large difference between our sprockets in use your application may still work due to the snap idle's slight movement. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try. If you do let us know.